Humidifier



.Bufiy 17, 1934. J. H. SIMPSON 1,966,872

HUMIDIFIER Original Filed Nov. 29. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J2 l2 J3 10' July 17, 1934. J SIMPSQN 1,966,872

HUMIDIFIER Original Filed Nov. 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (i fy-" y Patented July 317, i934 my UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE V to The Bahnson Company, Winston-Salem, N. 0., a corporation of North Carolina Application November 29, 1930, Serial No. 499,067

. Renewed June 7, 1934 14 Claims.

This invention relates to humidifiers and particularly to humidifiers of the type wherein water is supplied to a rapidly rotating disk from which it is thrown by centrifugal force against a row of stationary blades or teeth circumferentially surrounding the path of the periphery of the disk and thus atomized, and finally entrained by a stream of air blown past the row of teeth.

In known humidifiers of the above type, which m generally comprise a fan mounted on one end of a motor shaft, a disk mounted on the other end of the shaft and an imperforate bowl-like casing peripherally surrounding the blades or teeth, certain difliculties have been encountered in the operation of the devices which dimculties are obviated by the present invention. In the case of a humidifier operated in a room wherein there is an appreciable amount of lint in the air, such as in a textile mill, the lint is drawn into the air stream and is deposited on the rim of the casing where it collects moisture and, due to the passage of the air, extends in the direction of the air stream in elongated tassels or whiskers. Mois- 'ture which is deposited on these tassels by the passage of the moisture-laden air and/or by drainage from the casing, is blown from the collected lint in the form of drops which injure the materials being manufactured.

Another disadvantage of the prior art humidi- 39 hers lies in the construction of the blades or teeth, which are generally formed by slotting the edge of a disk or a cylindrical member. The blades are structurally weak, diflicult to arrange in proper adjustment, easily bent out of adjustment and the surface characteristics are such that liquid forms upon them in drops which are projected into the atmosphere of the room in which the humidifier is installed.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a humidifier wherein the formation of objectionable deposits of lint or other matter, is efiectually prevented and wherein the collection of a large amount of lint on the rim of the casing is rendered impossible.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a humidifier having a high evaporative capacity and a high evaporative efiiciency.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a humidifier of the aforementioned type wherein the blades are so constructed and arranged that they are mechanically strong, easily arranged in proper adjustment and the adherence thereto of moisture in large drops is rendered impossible.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a humidifier which is simple and rugged in construction and inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly in crosssection showing a device constructed according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the device of Fig. 1,

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are front, side and end views, respectively, of one form of inserted tooth,

Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, are end views of other forms of teeth, and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of the humidifier. with the shield removed.

An electric motor 1 is horizontally supported on one arm 2 of a bifurcate frame 3 which is pivoted to a bracket 4, adapted to be secured to a wall or column of a building (not shown). One end of the horizontal'motor shaft carries a tan 6 which is surrounded by a short guide ring 7 of approximately stream-line shape. The smaller end of the ring is substantially cylindrical and 30 the fan 6 is preferably somewhat closer to this cylindrical outlet end than to the flaring inlet end of thering. The ring 7 constitutes a guard for the fan but it also serves as a guide to confine the air stream created by the tan.

Carried on one end of the motor shaft 5, is a fan 6 of the propeller type around the periphery of which is disposed a circular guard 7, having an outward flare away from the motor 1. The guard 7 serves both as means for protecting the fan 6 and as means for confining the air stream created by the fan 5.

On the other end of the shaft 5 is a thin disk 8, having a slight concavity toward the motor 1, which disk8 is clamped between a spacer 9 having a generally conical shape with its large end abutting the disk 8, and a nut 10- which is threaded on the end of the shaft 5. .Fitted over the end or the motor 1 is a bowl-shaped grid ring 11, the sides of which extend somewhat beyond the periphery of the disk 8 and which is provided with a series of teeth 12 peripherally surrounding the disk 8, which teeth are described more in detail below. A second dished member or casing 13 is mounted on the motor and has its outer m5 edge surrounding but terminating approximately in the plane of the outer ends of the teeth 12. A strap 14 at the lower edge of casing idassists in supporting a stationary imperforate shield 15 n front of the disk 8 and similar straps 16 secure the upper portion of the shield 15 to the grid ring 11. The shield 15 has a shape which conforms, in general, to that of the disk 8 but the outer portion of the shield 15 is turned up away from the disk and the edge is bent back upon itself in the form of a bead 17, to provide a stiffening rim for the shield. The casing 13 is provided with a similar bead or rim 18.

The outer portion of the dished bowl 13 is convex, and the surfaces of the motor 1 and the casing 13 are formed in a substantially unitary stream-line shape which expands from a small diameter at the fan end of the motor to a large diameter at the disk end. The stream-lining of these members minimizes the amount of distortion and eddying of the air stream caused by the presence of the humidifier elements and thus not only is the efficiency of the fan, as such, increased but due to the absence of eddies, the water mist is entrained more uniformly in the air stream and a higher evaporative capacity of the humidifier results.

Extending through the casing 13 and grid ring 11 and terminating adjacent the spacer 9 is a water feed pipe 19 which is connected to a source of water supply (not shown) and is adapted to project a stream of water onto the spacer 9, the water being carried therefrom onto the inner surface of the disk 8 by centrifugal action. A humidity controlled valve 20 is inserted in the feed pipe line for controlling the amount of water supplied.

Depending from the second arm 21 of the frame 3 and disposed under the bottom portion of the casing rim 18 is a drip pan 22 having an apron 23 and a pipe 24 for conducting away water which drains from the casing 13 and is caught in the drip pan 22.

The edge of the grid ring 11 is provided with a reverse bend to form the opposed flanges of an annular groove 25 in which is cut a circumferential row of evenly spaced openings 26 having the same shape and size as transverse crosssection of the teeth 12. A tooth 12 is inserted in each one of the openings 26 from the inner side of the annular groove 25, the ends of the teeth 12 being alined in a plane normal to the axis of the grid ring 11 and disposed slightly to the left (as. seen in Fig. 1) of the periphery of the disk 8. Due to the resiliency of the annular groove 25, the teeth 12 are securely held in the openings but a drop of solder may be applied to the inner ends of the teeth 12 to prevent any possible loosening thereof.

The teeth 12 are formed of bar material having a semicircular transverse cross-section (as seen in Fig. 5), one end of each tooth being rounded and provided with an incline or bevel of approximately 15 extending from the outer end to a point approximately one third of the length of the tooth from the end, to form an impact surface 28. The semi-circular cross-section is not the only form which may be used but any cross-sectional form which provides a fiat surface on one side anda generally stream-line shape in the other side, may be used, several illustrative forms-designated 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d respectively-being shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive. In the prior constructions of the rotating disc and atomizer blade type, the rear faces of the teeth presented relatively wide fiat surfaces upon which drops of water could collect or form. As the drops of water increased in size, they fell into or were blown off by the air stream, thus limiting the quantity of water projected by the disc to that value which would not result in the formation of drops at the inactive faces of the blades. When the inactive faces are continuously curved, as shown in Figs. 5, 8 and 9, or meet at a sharp angle as in Fig. '7, there is no tendency for the film of water which flows around the side edges and to the rear face of a tooth to accumulate in the form of drops. With the form shown in Fig. 6, the rear face does include a plane surface which is not swept over by the air stream, but this plane surface is so narrow that drops cannot build up. There is no tendency for drops to accumulate upon the continuously curved surfaces of the casing 13 or the grid ring 11 and, by shaping the inactive surfaces of the atomizer teeth to prevent the accumulation of drops thereon, the inadvertent entry of water drops into the air stream is not, as in prior constructions, a factor which limits the quantity of water which may be discharged from the disc 8.

The teeth 12 are so arranged in relation to the periphery of the disk 8 that all of the water thrown off the disk 8 by centrifugal action when the disk is rotated strikes against some one of the inclined fiat surfaces 28 of the teeth 12 (as shown in Fig. 2). Since the impact surfaces 28 of the teeth'12 are not normal to the plane in which the water passes from the disk 8 to the teeth 12, the water, or mist, is reflected from the inclined impact faces 28 of the teeth 12 in a direction having a component along the axis of the humidifier.

The operation of the humidifier is as follows:

The motor 1 is rotated in the proper direction to cause the fan 6 to force a stream of air past the motor 1 and thecasing 13. The imperforate fan guard '7 assists in confining and directing the air stream axially of the motor, and the general stream line shape of the motor 1 and casing 13 preserve this axial direction of motion of the air stream as it passes over the rim of the dished casing with a minimum loss from frictional resistance and eddying.

The feed line 19 supplies a flow of water to the inclined surface of the spacer 9 and the water flows from there onto the inner surface of the disk 8 and is thrown off the edges of the disk 8 in a tangential direction, due to the centrifugal force set up by the rotation of the disk 8. The water is'thrown off the disk 8 in the form of a thin sheet and strikes the inclined surfaces 27 of the teeth 12 by which it is reflected in the form of a very fine mist, through the annular space between the rim 18 of the casing 13 and the rim of the shield 1'7 into the air stream, where it is picked up and carried out into the room in which the apparatus is located.

It will be noted that the air stream does not sweep over the atomizing teeth 12, and that the water mist forms in a relatively quiet zone within the air stream of annular cross-section and "boils over to enter the air stream. The tendency for water drops to enter the air stream is substantially eliminated by protecting the atomizer teeth 12 from the direct action of the air stream and any water which condenses on the casing 13 and drips from the rim 18 is caught in the drip pan 22 and carried away through the drain pipe 24.

The manner in which the shield 15 prevents the formation of objectionable collections of lint will be apparent from a consideration of Fig. 10, which illustrates the direction of flow of an air current established by the disk 8 when no shield is provided. In the absence of a shield, there is a suction of air or back current towards the center of the disk 8 and a current radially along the outer face of the disk 8 due to the skin friction of the disk 8 in the air, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1c. Accumulatlons of lint and dirt at the rim 18 of the casing 13 are unavoidable and the joint action of the main air stream and the radial air flow is to extend these accumulations into tassels or whiskers, as indicated at c in Fig. is. As a result, w'ater collects upon the lint accumulation and is blown cif the ends of the tassels a in objectionable large drops which may cause serious damage to the material and machinery in the room in which the humidifier is operated.

When the shield 15 is employed, lint still collects on the rim 18 of the casing 13 but the air currents prevent the formation of the elongated tassels, by reason of a part of the main air stream eddying around the rim 1% of the casing 13 and holding the lint, closely to the casing it. As long as the lint adheres closely to and conforms to the shape of' the casing 13, any water which collects on the lint flows downward along the edge of the casing 13 in the normal manner, and drops into the drip pan 22. This how of water will carry the lint away before any large accumulations are formed as there is no tendency for the lint to move out of the film of water which flows downwardly along the edge of the casing 13.

Owing to the stream-line exterior shape of the elementslying in the path of the air and to the shape and arrangement of the teeth, a very high evaporative capacity and evaporative efiiciency are obtained. Moreover, because of the sturdy construction of the device and because of its high efiiciency', it is possible to operate it at a peripheralspeed of from mom to 12,000 feet a minute, which is a very much higher speed than was thought practical in the devices of the prior art. The operation of the humidifier at such a greatly increased speed still further increases its capacity, as a larger quantity of water is projected into the atmosphere in the form of mist. Hence it will be apparent that the present invention has made possible the construction of a humidifier which is not only highly eficient but which is so designed that it may be operated at a high speed with a resultant increase in capacity.

1 claim:

l. In a hdifier, a revoluble disc. an annular row of abutment members arranged in operative relation to the periphery of thedisc, said disc adapted to receive and project a liquid against said abutment members, said members provided with faces against which said liquid is projected and by which it is broken up, and having curved back surfaces which prevent drops of liquid from collecting thereon, and means for estabg an air stre into which passes the t formed by the projection of the liquid against said abutment members.

2. in a humidifier, a revoluble disc, an annu= lar row of abutment members arranged in operative relation to the periphery of the disc, said disc adapted to receive and project a liquid against said abutment members, said members provided with hat faces against which said liquid is projected and by which it is broken up and having stream-line backs preventing the ac cumulation of drops of liquid thereon, and means for establishing an air stream into which passes the mist formed by the projection of the liquid against said abutment members.

3. In a humidifier, a revoluble disc, an annular row of abutment members arranged in operative relation to the periphery of the disc, said disc adapted to receive and project a liquid against said abutment members, means for supporting said members including a disk having an annular groove apertured to receive them and in which they are positioned, and means for establishing an air stream into which passes the mist formed by the projection of the liquid against said abutment members. i

4. In a humidifier, the combination with a 1'0- tatable disk, of means for rotating said disk, means for creating a stream of air past said disk and in a direction parallel to the axis thereof, and an imperforate shield disposed coaxially adjacent said disk on the downstream side thereof.

5. In a humidifier, the combination with a rotatable concave disk, means for rotating said dislr, and means for creating an air stream past said disk and in a direction parallel to the axis thereof, of an imperforate shield of substantially the same size and concavity as said disk arranged coaxially adjacent said disk on the side opposite said means for creating an air stream.

. ltd 6. In a humidifier, the combination with a motor having a horizontal shaft, of a fan and a disk mounted on the opposite ends of the shaft of said motor and a dished casing extending from said motor to the periphery of 1% said dislr, the outer surface of said casing meeting the outer surface of the motor to deflect the entire air stream around the exterior of the casing, and the said outer surfaces defining a substantially unitarystream-line shape. m

7. in a humidifier, the combination with a motor, of a fan on one end of the shaft of said motor, a disk on the other end of said shaft, and a dished casing extending from said motor to the periphery of said dislr, characterized in that the M5 outer surfaces of said motor and said casing meet to constitute a substantially imperforate and unitary stream-line surface increasing in trans verse dimensions from said fan to said dislr,

whereby the general direction of motion of the ma) annular air stream is not altered as the diam= eter oi the stream increases during its passage over the motor and said casing.

8. in a humidifier, the combination with a dish, of a second disk disposed coaxially adjacent said first dislr, and a plurality of teeth mounted in a circumferential row in said second disk and projecting axially therefrom to extend beyond the periphery of said first disk, each of said teeth being provided with a fiat surface extending in the general direction of a plane passed radially through the axis of said second disk, and a second fiat surface adjacent the tip of said tooth and inclined to said first flat surface.

9. In a humidifier, the combination with a disk 3 adapted to project water therefrom, and a motor for rotating said dish, of a series of atomizer blades annularly arranged at the periphery of said dish, and a mounting for said blades norm prising a ring member having opposed flanges ML connected throughout their periphery to form an annular groove for receiving the ends of said atomizer blades.

iii. The invention as set forth in claim 9,

wherein said ringmember comprises a disk havsame, of a series of atomizer blades annularly 1gp arranged at the periphery of the disk, a fan for establishing an air stream axially of the disk, and means coaxial with said disk and atomizer blades to shield the same from said air stream and to restrict the air stream to the form of an annular column of air within which the disk and blades are axially positioned, said blades having substantially plane active surfaces for intercepting a sheet of water thrown from the disk and said active surfaces being inclined to the plane of said sheet of water to deflect the mist formed therefrom into and in the direction of movement of said air stream.

12. In a humidifier, the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a wall or column, and a motor carried by said bracket and having a horizontal shaft whose ends project beyond the motor casing, a fan and a water-throwing disk secured to the opposite ends of said shaft, a row of atomizer teeth at the edge of said disk, and means for supplying water to said disk adjacent the center thereof, of a dished casing secured to the motor casing and having a substantially imperforate surface extending from the motor casing to the periphery of the disk, the portion of the dished casing over which the air stream sweeps being convex from the maximum diameter portion of the dished casing inwardly for a substantial radial distance, whereby said fan establishes a horizontal air stream in the form of an annular column within which the disk and row of teeth are arranged.

13. In a humidifier, the combination with a bracket adapted to be secured to a wall or column, and a motor carried by said bracket and having a horizontal shaft whose ends project beyond the motor casing, a fan and a water-throwing disk secured to the opposite ends of said shaft, a row of atomizer teeth at the edge of said disk, and means for supplying water to said disk adjacent the center thereof, of a short guide ring surrounding said fan and flaring outwardly from the motor, and a dished casing secured to the motor casing and having a substantially imperforate surface extending from the motor casing to the periphery of the disk, the portion of the dished casing over which the air stream sweeps being convex from the maximum diameter portion of the dished casing inwardly for a substantial radial distance, whereby said fan establishes a horizontal air stream in the form of an annular column within which the disk and row of teeth are arranged.

14. In a humidifier, the combination with a motor having a shaft, a fan and a disk mounted on opposite ends of the shaft of said motor, a ring of atomizer teeth at the periphery of said disk and extending substantially parallel to the motor shaft, means for supplying water to said disk, and means for restricting the air stream established by said fan to the form of an annular column within which said disk and ring of atomizer teeth are axially positioned, said means comprising a casing supported on said motor and having an outer edge surrounding said ring of atomizer teeth and terminating approximately in the plane of the outer ends thereof, the surface of the casing being substantially imperforate with a central portion thereof meeting the motor and the outer portion thereof presenting a convex surface to the advancing air stream.

JERRY H. SIMPSON. 

